Circle
by Lucieshalo
Summary: Kaname Hitokiri is not your ordinary highschool girl, she's the slayer. When an old enemy of hers comes into the fold, Kaname is forced to join up with the spirit detective and his team to take him down once and for all.
1. Kaname the Vampire Slayer

Chapter One

Kaname the Vampire Slayer

Kaname Hitokiri was not your ordinary fifteen-year-old high school girl. It wasn't ordinary for a high school girl to be hanging out in a graveyard on a Saturday night. It wasn't ordinary for a high school girl to be sitting on a gravestone over a freshly filled grave. No, there was definitely nothing ordinary about her. Kaname grumbled and hopped off the gravestone.

"Come on already, I don't got all night! Stupid vampires, why doesn't anybody ever stay dead around here." She kicked a pebble into the gravestone and it made a whining cracking sound. Wait, that wasn't from the rock… that was from the grave.

"About damn time!" A dirty, bloody hand found it's way to the top of the grave, followed by an arm, then a head. Soon the vampire was standing before a very irritated Kaname. She raised her hand from her hip and jabbed a manicured finger into his chest.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting out here for you! I mean, how long does it take to crawl out of a grave? I could have been at a club or hanging with my friends but no! You had to decide that you wanted to take all night to wake up. I don't have to listen to this!" She jabbed the silver sword she had been holding in her other hand into the very confused vampires heart and he exploded in a cloud of dust. Kaname huffed and turned around, only to run into the chest of someone and fall to the ground.

"What the-?" Kaname rubbed the back of her head where it had hit a grave stone.

"Kaname Hitokiri, Vampire Slayer?" Kaname's vision was slightly blurred from the bump on the head but she could vaguely make out the figures of two men dressed in black suits.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?" She crawled to her feet slowly, her head slightly spinning.

"You're going to have to come with us." Each of the two men grabbed one of her arms and began walking out of the graveyard.

"If this is about those bootleg movies I swear I had no idea it was illegal." A portal opened up in front of them and they walked right through it, coming out of the other side into a large white room that looked to be someone's office. Kaname was released and she turned to glare at her captors. She was about to tell them off when she realized that they were blue. Kaname backed away from the blue things and right into a chair.

"Their, Their, Their!" Kaname pointed at the blue men.

"Ogre's?" a voice to the side finished and she nodded her head quickly. She turned to look at the speaker and nearly fell out of her chair. It was a baby! It had a pacifier in its mouth and everything.

"Your, your-" Kaname's eyes widened slightly as she stared at the toddler.

"Prince Koenma! Jr. ruler of Spirit World!" Kaname turned back to where the two blue ogres had been and found a smiling blue haired girl instead. She was wearing a pink kimono and carried what seemed to be an ore in her right hand. Kaname took a second to get over the fact that she was looking at a girl with blue hair, that was so obviously died cuz nobody had naturally blue hair, and a talking toddler and assessed the situation.

"Did you just say Spirit World?" The blue haired girl nodded cheerfully and floated, yes floated, over to the desk in front of her. Kaname made a mental note to schedule an eye exam when she woke up from this dream.

"Yes, that's right. This is Spirit World, and I am Botan, guide for lost souls!" Kaname looked at the blue haired girl incredulously.

"You're the grim reaper?" Botan shook her head in disbelief. She turned to Koenma.

"Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?" The jr. god just shrugged. Kaname was confused; if this was spirit world then didn't that mean…

"Am I dead?" Botan turned back to the girl and shook her head vehemently, waving her hands franticly.

"Oh heavens no! You aren't scheduled to die for a long while. At least another twenty years or so." Kaname let out a sigh of relief.

"Well that's a relief. So if I'm not dead, why am I here?" Botan blinked at the girl.

"You're the vampire slayer." Kaname nodded, she already knew that.

"Yeah and?" Botan blinked again.

"You slay vampires." Kaname rolled her eyes. Was the girl stupid?

"That is the job description. At least that's what they tell me." Koenma glared at Botan, clearly the girl did not understand.

"Oh Botan your just confusing the poor girl! We need your help." Kaname crossed her arms in a superior way and popped her feet up on his desk.

"What in the world could you possibly need that would require my assistance?" Koenma sat back in his chair with a heavy thud.

"Kieran. Ring a bell?" Kaname visibly stiffened, her eyes going wide.

"Try an alarm. I fought him before, he nearly killed me." Koenma held up a finger.

"Not before you managed to wound him, which is more than any other slayer has been able to do before you. That's why we need your help." Kaname stood up from her chair, visibly shaken, a far away look in her eyes.

"No, no I'm not going through that again. Kieran is a monster, he doesn't kill you just because he has to, he thrives on his victim's screams. He lives for it… And he killed my best friend. He tortured her for days, right in front of me. To this day I can still hear her begging me to kill her. Never again." Kaname spat out and turned on her heals to leave, not exactly knowing where she was going but anywhere was better than here. Koenma called out after her.

"You wouldn't be alone, you'll have help. I have assigned my Spirit Detectives to the case. They've never failed a mission." Kaname stopped and turned her head to the side, her voice cold and steely.

"They've never fought Kieran." Koenma was getting desperate.

"Kaname please. We need your expertise. You spent a month with him0, no one has ever been able to get that close and live to tell it. You know his moves. We really need your help. If not for us, do it for Kanna. It's your chance to finally get the retribution you've been longing for. She wouldn't want you to give up." Kaname closed her eyes and clenched her fists, her body tensed then relaxed. She sighed heavily.

"I'll think about it." Koenma nodded.

"That's all I ask." Kaname turned to the demi god with a forlorn look.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go home now." Koenma nodded and looked to the blue haired ferry girl.

"Of course, Botan." Botan stood at attention.

"Right away sir." Botan hopped onto the ore and motioned for Kaname to get on behind her. Kaname looked at the ferry girl like she'd just sprouted horns. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"You want me to get on that?" Botan nodded enthusiastically.

"I assure you it's perfectly safe! I've never once lost a rider! Unless you count that one time with Yusuke but that was his own fault." Kaname looked warily at the wooden stick and cautiously slid onto the back, wrapping her arms loosely around the girl's waist.

"Hold on tight!" Botan took off, Kaname's grip on her strengthened substantially as they flew through the air over Kaname's block. Kaname spotted her house and chanced removing her arm to point down at her house. Botan soared down and dropped a trembling Kaname down on the rooftop.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I'd really enjoy having another girl around on the team. The testosterone poisoning is reaching an all time high. It's only a matter of time before they start turning on eachother. And I'm afraid Kuwabara might be the first to go. Especially with him fawning all over Yukina left and right. I'm surprised Hiei hasn't gutted him already. Well anyway, Goodnight!" The ferry girl poised to take flight.

"Botan?" Botan stopped and turned to face a very distraught Kaname.

"Yes?" Kaname hugged herself against the wind.

"You're the grim reaper right?" Botan nodded.

"Yes that's right." Kaname shifted uncomfortably.

"So when Kanna died, you would have been the one to guide her to the afterlife." Botan placed a hand on her chin and a thoughtful look crossed her face.

"Lets see now, Kanna, oh yes! Kanna Hanajima, I remember her quite well. Quite the firecracker that one." Botan's look softened at the pained expression on Kaname's face as she remembered her friend. "She's in a good place. She's not suffering anymore."

"I know it's just… Hard, Ya know?" Tears lined the corners of her eyes.

"You cared for her very deeply. I remember she was very concerned about you. It put her at peace, knowing you would be safe. I think that was the most important thing to her. Making sure that you were alright." Kaname wiped the tears from her eyes and let out a strangled laugh.

"That sounds like Kanna, always thinking about others before herself." Botan smiled at the slayer and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You should get some rest, you have school tomorrow. And please, do consider Koenma's offer. Goodnight Kaname." Botan tuned to take off and was in the air when Kaname's voice stopped her.

"Hey Botan!" She turned in mid air.

"Hm?" Kaname smiled at her warmly.

"…Thanks." Botan smiled back and drifted off into the night, leaving a very distraught Kaname to her thoughts.

Kaname woke in the morning to the sound of chirping birds. Odd, her room was in the basement; there shouldn't be birds in the basement. She opened her eyes a little ways and realized that she was still on the roof. She must have cried herself to sleep. That was when she realized what time it was. 8:25. She was going to be late for school! One more tardy and she was for sure that they were going to suspend her. She rushed down the stairs, throwing on random clothes. She grabbed a piece of toast off the plate on the table and rushed for the door. Her older brothers calm voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Your not going to school like that are you?" Her older brother, Yuki Hitokiri, student body president and resident royalty at her high school, next to the infamous Shuichi Minamino. He had his own fan club and everything. It wasn't surprising to her, he was gorgeous. Of course being his sister she didn't think these things about him, but she had friends. And all of them had had a crush on him at one time or another. He stood about five foot eleven, he was lean and toned from tennis, yeah he was a tennis guy, and he had these piercing indigo eyes that always seemed to catch you in their stare. His black hair was short in the back and got longer in the front, framing his almost feminine face.

He was very polite and sophisticated to people he didn't know, but he was harsh and unyielding to those he didn't like, though no one had really ever seen that side of him but her and a few others. Most of the time he was very calm and collected. Kaname always found it funny that the girls at her school went for all the feminine looking guys.

They never believed that Kaname and Yuki were siblings, much less related. They were so completely different. Kaname was rash and impulsive where as Yuki was cool and calculating. Not to mention they looked nothing alike.

Kaname's waist length hair was a deep black, almost blue color and she always had it up in a ponytail on the top of her head, held with a rather large white bow. She was very short, reaching just under five foot, and to top it all off she was tiny everywhere.

Most girls her age had already hit puberty and grown hips and breasts, not Kaname. Puberty had not been kind to her. Her breasts were too small in her opinion, although it was nice to have a small chest when fighting vampires and demons and the like, but not when trying to get a date. Her hips also weren't as voluptuous as she would have liked them to be. She wasn't shapely like her friend Ayumi, who practically had to beat the guys off with a pole, but she wasn't a stick either.

Years of hard training had sculpted her body to a toned precision. She had a dancers build and it helped make her movements more graceful in a fight. Despite that fact she had taken ballet when she was young, until she turned twelve, when she had been called. Her legs and arms were lean muscle and her stomach was flat and toned. All of her friends raged on her about putting her looks down, saying they would kill to have a body like hers but she knew they were just trying to cheer her up.

Kaname did however have a soft spot for her eyes. She had her mother's eyes, a soft steel blue, clear as day. Her long bangs were always falling in her eyes and her dad would brush them out of the way just to look at them, they reminded him of her. Her mother had died in childbirth with her. She had been a model. That was how she and Kaname's father had met, her father, Hatori Hitokiri, was a photographer. He had been the photographer of one of her shoots and they instantly fell in love. It was a beautiful story. She often felt responsible for her mother's death but her father would always console her, telling her it was just her time to go. Kaname kissed her picture every morning before leaving the house.

Kaname followed her brothers gazed to her clothes and eeked. Her top was on backwards and her skirt was inside out, not to mention she was only wearing one sock and her shoes were on the wrong feet.

"Where did you ever learn how to dress yourself? Go upstairs and change, you'll be an embarrassment to us all walking into school like that." Kaname glared at her brother and raced back up the stairs to change.

When she finally had herself all straitened out she raced back down the stairs to find Yuki had already left. She looked at the clock, 8:29. Crap! Oh well, she was gonna be late anyway, why rush? She only lived two blocks from the school and she trudged the whole way there, dragging her feet. She dragged herself into her first class, bowing apologetically to the teacher.

"Miss Hitokiri, how nice of you to finally join us." Kaname bowed low and apologized profusely.

"I'm very sorry Ms. Kazame! I promise it won't happen again!" The teacher sighed.

"I'm sorry miss Hitokiri, but I'm afraid that I must send you to the office. I have already notified the principal that you would be coming." Kaname hung her head and turned to leave.

"I understand." Ms. Kazame placed a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Your brother is student body president isn't he? Maybe he can put in a good word." Kaname looked at the woman skeptically.

"Yuki? Yeah right, he's more of the it serves you right, you need to learn a lesson type." Ms. Kazame smiled.

"I'm sure it won't be so bad." Kaname shrugged it off and walked out the door, waving to her teacher.

"Yeah, right, see ya next week Ms. Kazame."

"Kaname Hitokiri. You are quite the little trouble maker." Kaname sat in the stuffy little office that belonged to the principal of her school. She noticed the bowel of thumbtacks sitting on the table and reached in to pull one out. Her overblown windbag of a principal was droning on about morals and codes and she really could have cared less.

She had spotted a fly buzzing around the room and popped the thumbtack into her mouth. She watched it for about five minuets before it landed on the bulletin board behind the principal's head. She took aim and spit the thumbtack at the stationary insect, effectively nailing it to the bulletin board. The principal turned his head to the fly attached to his bulletin board and pulled the thumbtack out, the fly remaining on the end. It twitched and the old man threw it into the nearest trash bin, looking a little green.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" The old man gulped and turned his wide-eyed gaze back to Kaname.

"Miss Hitokiri, as you know, the punishment for a month of tardiness is a weeks suspension." Kaname propped her feet up on the desk in front of her and fiddled with the letter opener.

"I know." The principal, not necessarily feeling that it was the best idea to have the girl playing with sharp objects, snatched the letter opener away from her and locked it safely in his desk.

"But, your brother has explained your condition and I am willing to settle for two weeks detention." Her condition? What exactly had Yuki told the old bastard? It didn't matter really; it had gotten her out of a suspension. It was good to have family in high places.

"Yes very tragic. It is only fair." The principal looked at her a little suspiciously before shaking his head and continuing.

"Your detentions will be served after school every day with Ms. Kazame, as it is her class you disrupt everyday with your tardiness. Please try to be more punctual in the future. Your free to go." Kaname stood and saluted before striding out the door, she caught Yuki leaning against the doorframe outside the office.

"So, how'd it go?" Kaname walked over and hooked her arm in his.

"I have two weeks of detention thanks to you." Yuki smirked down at his little sister.

"Your welcome." Kaname looked up at him with a suspicious look on her face as they walked down the hall to her class.

"What exactly did you tell him about my so called 'condition'?" Yuki got that mischievous look on his face whenever he tried to be funny.

"I told him you're out fighting vampires and demons all night and that you are very tired in the morning after all that hunting." That earned him a punch in the arm. Yuki had first found out about Kaname being the slayer one night when they were walking home from the grocery store and had been attacked by three vampires.

Yuki had tried to fight them and told Kaname to run for it but they had over powered him and gone after Kaname. She had defeated them easily, having been the slayer for a year by that time. She took him home and bandaged him up, telling him everything about her sacred birthright. He had taken it all in stride, claiming it had explained a lot of things about the way Kaname had been acting for the past year. It had taken him a while to get used to the fact that demons were real and all that but he accepted it and tried to help her out the best he could. For which Kaname was very grateful. It was nice to have someone to talk to about slaying other than her diary.

"I'm serious Yuki! What did you tell that poor man?" Yuki smiled and jabbed his hands into his pockets.

"I told him you were studying hard for your finals and you hadn't been getting much sleep, not to mention that your extremely malnourished. He ate it right up. Humans can be so gullible. I've never once in my life seen you study for anything." Kaname turned and stomped her foot down in protest.

"Hey I study, in between slaying and the mall, I study!" Yuki leaned up against the wall next to Kaname's next class.

"Sure you do, listen, I got a partner project to do so I won't be home until late tonight. Dad's at a conference in Tokyo so your gonna be by yourself, you think you can handle it?" Kaname put her hands on her hips.

"I'm a big girl Yuki. I can take care of myself. Slayer remember? I'm all uber powerful." Yuki just shrugged.

"I know, but I still worry." Kaname placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"If it worry's you that much I'll have Ayumi stay the night. Wouldn't want you getting any wrinkles or gray hair, your fan club might murder me. Wouldn't that be a bummer? Vampire slayer dies tragically at the hands of rabid fan girls." Kaname made a dramatic show and Yuki smirked at her.

"Try to stay out of trouble." Kaname smiled at him and pointed at herself.

"Hey you know me." Yuki's face turned solemn.

"Exactly, that's why I'm worried." Kaname sighed.

"Well don't, Ayumi and I will stay in and watch movies all night. I won't even go on patrol. Comfy?" Yuki ruffled her hair.

"Warm and fuzzy. Now get to class before I have to talk you out of another detention." He pushed himself off the wall and walked down the hall.

"Yes masa!" She bowed low and with a wave of the hand he was gone. The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully. Her detentions started on Monday so she had the next two days off. She met up with Ayumi and her friend Kei at the end of the day. They had come running up to her with very excited looks on their faces.

"Kaname did you hear?" Kaname looked at them with one eyebrow raised inquisitively.

"Apparently not. Hear what?" Kei positively squealed with delight.

"Every girls dream! Your brother and Shuichi have been paired up for a partner project! You are so lucky! Absolutely every girl in school would kill to be you. The two most gorgeous guys in the world and they'll be under your roof!" A thoughtful look crossed her face and she snapped her fingers.

"So that's who his partner is. We'll don't get your hopes up girls, Yuki's working on the project at Shuichi's house. Which reminds me. Ayumi, my dad's at a conference this week and with Yuki having this project he doesn't want me to be home alone. You think you can stay over?" Ayumi nodded.

"Cake and pie, you know how the family is. Besides, it gives me a reason to cancel with what's his face. " Kaname snorted.

"Another hapless admirer?" Ayumi looked over at her friend and sighed, nodding dejectedly. Every week it seemed Ayumi had some new guy after her. Kaname often heard people talking about how beautiful she was and how they wished they could look like her. Having a brother like Yuki had taught her that unnamable beauty was a curse.

Kaname had befriended Ayumi after she had found her covering up a black eye in the restroom one day before school. She had tried not to pull much attention to it but found she couldn't control herself.

"_It's tricky, covering a fresh shiner like that. You know what works_

"_What?" _

"_Don't get hit."_

Ayumi Jameson was the poster girl for beautiful young girls. Her father was an American artist who had come to Japan on a job offer. He owned a gallery in downtown Tokyo so he was almost never home. Her mother was a Japanese clothing designer, heading up a company called Mew-Mew so she was also never home. Ayumi lived in the rich district and her family had quite a few maids so it wasn't like she was left home alone, but that doesn't mean it wasn't lonely.

She had inherited most of her traits from her father, the long soft honey blond hair and the big bright cerulean blue eyes. She was petite though, about five foot five, but she had a smile that could rival the sun for brilliance. Her mother was always using her as a model for her new clothing designs and since Kaname was Ayumi's best friend, they always got first dibs.

"Hey, that's my ride, I'll see you guy's tomorrow!" Kei shouted, running off to her mom's car. Ayumi looked over at Kaname out of the corner of her eye.

"So, are you patrolling tonight?" Kaname sighed. Ayumi was the only other person besides Yuki who knew about her being the slayer, but Kaname wasn't really big on sharing with her for obvious reasons.

"No, I promised Yuki I'd stay in." Ayumi pulled a video camera out of her school bag.

"Oh come on Kaname! I really want to get some good footage!" And that was the reason. Ever since Ayumi found out about Kaname being the slayer she had made it her mission in life to video tape her killing every single demon and vampire that came her way, justifying it as a training video for future slayers. But Kaname knew the real reason. Ayumi was studying to be a film editor and she was using Kaname as her guinea pig.

"And I don't want to get mauled by Yuki's fan club!" Kaname swatted at the camera.

"My life is not an action movie Ayumi! Besides, you know how uncomfortable I am with you going out there with me." Ayumi put the camera down and shot Kaname an incredulous look.

"Oh come on! You act like I'm going to get eaten by some rando demon." Kaname grabbed Ayumi by the shoulders.

"It's not safe! And who's to say your not going to get eaten by a demon!" Kaname looked around at all the strange glances people were shooting her. Ayumi grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down the street, shouting over her shoulder.

"Yeah, my own personal demons!" Ayumi and Kaname turned the corner onto Kaname's street. "Really Kaname you should be more careful, you have a secret identity to keep and everything." Kaname shrugged her hand off.

"I know that! It's all your fault anyway!" They turned up to Kaname's front steps to find Yuki waiting there.

"Yuki! What are you doing here? I thought you were working over at Shuichi's house?" Yuki pushed away from the door and walked down the steps.

"It wasn't convenient for him so I decided to have us work here. That's not a problem is it?" Kaname looked over at Ayumi who had suddenly found something very interesting to look at on her shoes. After many painstaking hours of interrogation, Kaname had managed to get Ayumi to confess that she had a crush on the infamous Shuichi Minamino. Ayumi was very shy and she didn't do well with confrontation. It was easy for her to get dates because she didn't really like any of the guys she had ever dated, but with him it was different. Kaname looked back over at her brother.

"Of course not! Don't be ridiculous! So if you're supposed to be working on a partner project, where's your partner?" Yuki looked over Kaname's head.

"Right behind you." Ayumi's head shot up and her face turned a deep shade of red. She spun around on her toes and came face to face with her secret crush. Kaname had to nudge her in the side to remind her to breath.

"It's nice to finally meet you Miss Hitokiri, Yuki has told me so much about you." Kaname smiled sheepishly.

"Nothing good I bet, and please call me Kaname, Miss Hitokiri makes me feel like an old lady." Shuichi smiled at her and Kaname wrapped a hand around Ayumi's arm to keep her upright, sensing that her dear friends knees were about to give out.

"Of course, Kaname." Shuichi's gaze drifted over to Ayumi and it was all Kaname could do to keep the girl from turning tail and bolting for the door. Kaname was impressed that the poor girl hadn't fainted yet.

"I don't think you've met my friend Ayumi." Shuichi nodded in her direction and a small smirk graced his lips.

"Not formally no, but I have to say I am quite a fan of your work. You take beautiful pictures Miss Jameson. Do you mind if I call you Ayumi?" Ayumi was frozen in her shoes, unable to move, to speak. Whenever she was in his presence all of her important motor functions seemed to completely shut down. She was in a systems overload. He was looking at her, he had spoken to her, and her brain was still trying to comprehend the fact that he had just given her a compliment. All she could do was shake her head slowly until Kaname slapped her on the back. Suddenly her senses came back on line.

"No, no of course not, Ayumi is fine. Thank you for the compliment, I had no idea I had a fan. Especially one such as yourself, Mr. Minamino." Ayumi shot him one of her heartbreaker smiles, which he returned with one of his own.

"Please, no formalities, call me Shuichi." Ayumi nodded.

"Of course." Yuki chose that opportunity to step in.

"Kaname you and Ayumi should go inside and get changed, there's money on the end table if you two want to order in, I'm afraid Shuichi and I will be very busy and will not have time to join in with dinner." Shuichi stepped up and placed a hand on Yuki's shoulder.

"Nonsense, we have all week to work on this project. And with the two of us working on it together we should get it done in no time." Kaname shook her head in agreement.

"Yeah Yuki, I was really looking forward to trying out that new recipe dad taught me." Yuki sighed, looking slightly annoyed.

"Alright, that's fine. Just try not to burn the house down. I was only saying because of that thing you have." Kaname smirked at him and turned to run inside the house.

"Oh no, it was canceled. Rained out." Yuki crossed his arms and gave her a stern look.

"It isn't raining." Kaname looked to the sky.

"Oh it will." Yuki scoffed at her.

"It will, will it Mr. Weatherman? How do you know?" Kaname put a finger in her mouth and held it up.

"I can smell the moisture in the air, the temperature just dropped about two or three degrees. We should get inside, it's gonna be one helluva downpour." No sooner had the words left her mouth that there was a clap of thunder and the rain began to pour. The four of them hurried inside to get out of the rain.


	2. Identity

Note: Thank you Rinkitsunedemongal for reviewing. I'm very glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Here's the second installment, I hope you like it as much as you did the first.

Disclaimer: Again sadly I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho...damn.

Chapter Two

Identity

The four raced inside the house, shaking the water from their clothes. Yuki walked over to the hall closet and tossed a towel to everybody. Kaname turned to Ayumi, taking her hair down and running the towel over it.

"Well it's a good thing you are staying the night Ayumi, I don't know if it's gonna be very safe for you to be out there in this weather, even with your pro drivers." Suuichi looked over at her out of the corner of his eye then walked over to the window.

"You really think it's going to be that bad?" Kaname shrugged and tossed her towel over in the chair and pulled out a brush to untangle her hair.

"We probably won't have school tomorrow, the streets will be too flooded." The brush paused midway through untangling Kaname's hair. "Oh my goodness! I didn't even think! You shouldn't be out there either!" Shuichi held up his hands in silent protest.

"It's fine, I-" Kaname shook her head furiously, water droplets falling about her.

"Absolutely not! Nothing short of a demon could survive that storm. You'll just have to stay the night with Yuki. Oh no! The girls at school are going to murder me; I can see it now, slayer mauled by fan girls. I new this was going to happen. I just knew it." Kaname mumbled, returning to the tangled mess of hair. Suuichi glanced curiously at the small girl.

"You believe in demons?" Ayumi let out a small snort at that and Yuki and Kaname turned to glare daggers at her. Kaname shrugged it off. She shook her brush at him.

"Of course not, which is how I know you aren't one so there's no way I'm letting you leave this house. You'd better call your mom and let her know you'll be staying over so she doesn't worry and I will hear nothing more about it! Ayumi!" Ayumi rolled her eyes and followed Kaname into the kitchen. Shuichi blinked after her.

"She quite the little spitfire." Yuki smirked.

"Yeah, our mother died in childbirth so Kaname sort of took up the role of mother." He looked over at the older boy with a soft look, thinking of his own mother.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I can't imagine what life would be like if I had never had my mother." Yuki shrugged indifferently.

"It's not so bad, our dad is pretty cool so he kind of makes up for the missing space. She looks just like her." Yuki looked in the direction of the kitchen, a faraway look in his eyes. Shuichi followed his gaze.

"Your mother?" Yuki snapped out of his trance.

"Yeah, we should get started on that project, I'll just-" Yuki bent over to grab his book bag off the floor and a round red pendant on a silver chain fell out of his shirt. It caught the attention of the redhead and he felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Where did you get that?" Suuichi asked in a low and almost dangerous tone. He could recognize that pendant anywhere; it was the same one that haunted his dreams almost every night. Kuronue's pendant. Yuki's hand stopped almost and inch from his book bag and his body visibly tensed. His eyes slid closed and a smirk began to work its way across his face.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask me about that, Kurama." Yuki stated, straightening to full height and glancing superciliously at the fox. Kurama regarded him with slight caution.

"How do you know that name?" Yuki smirked and crossed his arms.

"What's the matter? Don't you recognize an old friend?" Shuichi glared.

"That friend is dead." He had been tricked before; he wasn't about to let it happen again. Yuki shook his head.

"No, Kurama, he's not dead. In fact I'm very much alive. I wasn't quite sure if it was you, you smell different… almost human. I have to say, it's a little unnerving. Last time I saw you, you were running for your life, and then I hear tell that your dead, slain by a spirit hunter. I knew you were too smart to be captured by some mindless hunter, so I kept up with the news. Sure enough, sixteen years later I hear you make an appearance at the Dark Tournament. Imagine how overjoyed I was to hear you were still alive, until I saw you, one day, outside the hotel on Hanging Neck Island. I saw your new 'friends' and I realized, I had been replaced." Kurama shook his head.

"Replaced? Kuronue you were dead!" Kuronue smiled dejectedly.

"No, I wasn't. I was captured, not dead. I told you to go, save yourself, you did, as I wanted, as I always wanted, just to have you safe. They locked me in a cell for days. No food no water no light, just the ever-impending darkness to keep my company. Don't pity me! The last thing I need is you feeling sorry for me. Your guilt has been washing over me for years; I don't need your pity too. I was stricken with grief when I caught wind of your demise. I forced myself not to believe it. How could it be? With all of my efforts to keep you from harm, that some bounty hunter had taken my light. Then I remembered something you told me, about spiritual transcendence, it seemed the only logical conclusion, after all, you were too smart to just lay there and die. I sought out a gypsy and had her perform a ritual on me that would have me appear human to unsuspecting eyes. She placed the Keyport in my pendant, as long as I wear this, I am disguised. Even to the eye of your Jaganshi." Kurama listened to his story carefully, trying to pick out any flaws. There weren't any. It was in fact Kuronue.

"And this family?" Kuronue smiled.

"That was the tricky part. Fabricating memories is a long and tiring process. I came to this family on the day of Kaname's conception. All of her memories of me are real. I was in the body of a three year old on the day Kaname was born, the day our mother passed. I had come to admire the beautiful woman I had chosen to be my mother; I felt pain when she died. But when I looked at that baby girl, that sweet innocent child, I was at peace. I had never seen such a soul, untainted, unmarred by the brutality of civilization. I was determined to keep that for her, never let her see the hardships I had faced. Alas, it was not to be." Kurama was confused.

"What do you mean? Kaname is human, right?" Kuronue nodded.

"Absolutely, one hundred percent, without a doubt. But so is your Master Genkai." Kurama's eyes narrowed.

"Your point." Kuronue sighed.

"Kaname is, by no means, an ordinary human. She is the descendant of a long line on powerful fighters, Vampire Slayers." Kurama looked at his old friend suspiciously.

"Kaname is the Vampire Slayer?" Kuronue nodded.

"Called at the age of twelve when her predecessor, her aunt Mai, was killed." Kurama crossed his arms and smiled, the full weight of the situation sending him into a daze.

"Huh, you've been at my school, in my grade, this entire time and I had no idea." Kuronue just shrugged.

"The curse of the charm. It wasn't untilthat day on hanging-neck islandthat I was completely sure of whom you were. You keep up guises very well Kurama, or should I say, Shuichi." Kurama shook his head.

"Sometimes even I wonder who I am anymore." Kuronue walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You are who you have always been, and who you always will be. Names are things other people give you." Kurama smirked at the bat.

"Cryptic as always." Kuronue cocked his head to the side as if to say 'are you kidding me?'

"You think I would ever give that up?" Kaname sauntered into the living room with her hands behind her back and a far too innocent look on her face.

"Hey Shuichi? Do you think you can give Ayumi a hand in the kitchen? I need to talk to my brother in private." He looked over at her then back to Kuronue, nodding.

"Sure." He turned to walk into the kitchen, stopping by the doorframe.

"The phone is on the counter if you need to call your mom." Kaname said and smiled at him warmly.

"Thank you Kaname." He smiled back and turned the corner, disappearing from view.

"What is it?" Kuronue asked. Kaname turned back to her brother with a solemn look on her face.

"There's someone out there. I can feel it, it's a demon. A powerful one. I think we should all be on guard." Kurama turned back from behind the corner, leaning up against the doorframe with his eyes closed.

"There's no need." Kaname turned to look at him with a confused look on her face.

"Shuichi?" He pushed off the doorframe and walked over to her.

"Yes, I hardly think it's something to worry ourselves about." Kaname turned to regard her brother.

"Yuki?" Kurama nodded.

"Hiei isn't one to barge in and kill for no reason. I'm afraid I must be going though, I'm sorry I couldn't stay for dinner, perhaps tomorrow." Kaname's head looked from one to the other and she snapped.

"Now hold on just one second! What the hell is going on here! Someone better start talkin' or I'm gonna start bustin' heads!" Kuronue placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Kaname calm down." She threw his hand off.

"I am calm!" Kaname realized she had been shouting and counted to ten in her head, taking slow deep breaths. She turned to Shuichi.

"Who are you?" Ayumi came wandering out of the kitchen when she heard the shouting. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a spoon.

"What are you talking about Kaname? Did something take her memory? He's Shuichi, you remember, your brothers partner? Ringin a bell?" Kaname closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

"Ayumi, please go in the other room." Ayumi looked at her friend, seeing the situation was clearly more than what she was hearing; she turned and left the room. Kaname glared at Kurama's prone form.

"I'll ask again. Who. Are. You?" Kuronue was the one to answer.

"His name is Yoko Kurama, the silver spirit fox." Kaname's eyes narrowed.

"You're a demon." It was a statement, not a question. Kurama nodded.

"Yes." Kaname turned on her brother.

"How long have you known about this?" Kurama intervened, not wanting Kuronue to take the blame.

"This has nothing to do with Yuki." Kaname turned her head to glare at him, halting the words in his throat.

"It would be wise of you to stay quiet right about now. It's my job to kill your kind." Kaname found her self pressed up against the wall before she even had a chance to turn, a gleaming silver sword pressed snugly against her throat. She was frozen to the spot, staring into flaming crimson eyes.

"Watch your tongue girl, you might lose it." Kuronue sprang to action, leaping at Hiei and tackling him away from his sister. Hiei turned on the bat, attacking him with his sword. Kurama's Rose Whip wrapped around the apparition's sword, pulling it from his hand. Kuronue rose to strike the smaller demon when Kaname's voice halted them all.

"Everybody stop! Did somebody call a party here? Did I just not get the memo? There are two demons standing in my living room right now." Hiei interrupted her.

"Three." Kaname placed her hands on her hips.

"Where's the other one?" Hiei looked over at her, slightly irritated.

"Standing right next to you." Kaname turned to look at her brother and had to stifle a laugh. This guy thought Yuki was a demon? Kuronue narrowed his eyes and smirked at the apparition.

"How did you know? That charm is supposed to block your Jagan." Hiei shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hn. I may not be able to read your mind, but I can read his perfectly." Hiei motioned to Kurama. Kaname looked over at her brother.

"Yuki tell them you're not a demon." He avoided her eyes. "Well, tell them, tell them you're not a demon." Kuronue hung his head.

"I can't." Kaname looked at him perplexed.

"What do you mean you can't? You're not a demon, you can't be, you're my brother… Aren't you?" Kuronue turned to her, staring at her imploringly.

"Of course I am." Hiei glared at Kuronue.

"But he wasn't always." Kuronue glared right back at him. Kaname shook her head; she was a little over whelmed.

"What does he mean Yuki? Why not always?" Kuronue sighed, it was bound to come out sooner or latter, though he hoped it would have been under better circumstances. He suppose now was as good a time as any.

"That's not my name." Kaname's brow furrowed.

"What?" Kuronue let out a deeper sigh.

"Yuki, that's not my name. My name is Kuronue, and yes, I am a demon. Kaname-" He reached out to her and she backed away from him as if stung.

"If you touch me, I'll kill you." Her bangs fell heavily in her eyes, tears dotting the edges.

"Kaname I'm sorry! I wanted to tell you-" Her head snapped up, tears flying.

"Liar!" Kuronue closed his eyes tightly, shutting out the sight of her tears. He reached out to her.

"Kaname please!" She backed herself up against the front door.

"Who are you? How could you do this to me?" Pain laced in her tone, cutting him to the bone. Kuronue stood his ground.

"I'm still the brother you've always known." Kaname glared at him with hateful eyes.

"I don't know you." In a flash she had opened the door and was gone. Kuronue dropped his head, addressing the other two behind hooded eyes.

"I'll take care of this. You go." Kurama placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Will she be alright?" Kuronue raised his head and stared out the open door.

"It'll take some time, but I think everything should work itself out. It always does." He finished, racing out the door and after his sister.

"There's something not right about them. I just don't know what it is yet." Kurama nodded solemnly.

"I know what you mean. We should go, Koenma sounded urgent." Hiei nodded and disappeared from his side. Kurama glanced one last time at the open door, closing it as he walked out, a lone silent figure watching his every move from the shadows.


	3. Revelations

Chapter Three

Revelations

Kuronue raced through the streets, the heavy rain drenching his body. He was getting nowhere like this, he could barely see. He reached up and removed the pendant from around his neck. His body shifted from the human façade of Yuki Hitokiri to the demon bandit Kuronue. He felt before he heard the girl walk up behind him.

"So this is who you really are."

"Kaname-"

"Don't. My entire life has been a lie. Is dad a demon too? Was mom? Am I?"

"No, I'm not your biological brother." More tears sprang to her eyes as he said this, her knees gave way and she collapsed to the ground, shaking with sobs.

"Was anything real?" Kuronue leaned down and gathered the trembling girl into his arms. She clung desperately to his chest, violent sobs wracking her body. He held her as she cried for a good five minuets into his already drenched chest. Her sobs died down into sniffles and her hands unclenched from his shirt. She pulled away from him, her eyes hidden behind her long bangs.

"I need to know, everything, I need to… I need to know." Kuronue nodded.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather explain it all inside and out of this rain. I don't want you catching fever because of me."

"You know, there was a time, I would have been saying that to you." She smiled in the saddest way and Kuronue felt another little piece of his heart break at the sight. Kaname struggled to her feet, making it about half way there before collapsing into Kuronue's waiting arms. He picked her up effortlessly without a struggle. Which worried him, Kaname wasn't the type of girl that liked to be rescued. She never would have let him carry her if she could help it. He raced back to the house as fast as his legs would carry him. He opened the door and ducked as a frying pan came flying at his head, the holder none other than Ayumi. He had forgotten she was still there. She raised her arms back to swing again and saw Kaname; the frying pan fell to the ground at her feet with a loud resounding thud.

"Kaname! What did you do to her you monster!" Kuronue glared at the human girl.

"Nothing, Ayumi it's me, Yuki."

"I know what Yuki looks like and you're not him!" Kuronue realized he was not wearing his pendant but quickly shook it off, Kaname was more important right now. He flew past the enraged girl and up the stairs to Kaname's old room, laying her carefully on the bed and pulling the heavy blankets up around her. It was nearing the end of fall so it was rather cold out and the rain hadn't helped any. Her skin was like ice to the touch and she was trembling under the heavy comforter. He needed to get her some heat.

Kurama walked calmly into Koenma's office to find the other three already sitting there. Well two were sitting; Hiei was taking up his usual position of holding up the wall. Koenma of course was seated behind the overly large desk that was for once devoid of papers. He had never really called all of them in together before, this must have been important. Kurama took a seat next to Yusuke and Koenma cleared his throat.

"I have called you all together like this for a very important mission. I was afraid it would only be a matter of time before this maniac reared his ugly head."

"And just who would this maniac be?" Koenma sighed and pushed a button on his desk causing a silver screen to slide down from the ceiling behind him. An image of a demon popped up on the screen. He was tall and regal looking with silvery white skin. He had long flowing white hair that reached just to his ankles and was held by a small ribbon at the end.

His eyes were a deep olive green with an inner circle of gold. His ears were pointed and elongated, several rings hanging from each one. He held a sadistic smirk as he stared into the camera and one could vaguely make out the protrusion of a razor sharp fang.

He wore all white robes that flowed about him, making him look like an angel. Of course the feathery wings on his back helped that along quite a bit. The dark charcoal gray stuck out like a sore thumb against the immaculate white, drawing your attention. He was altogether an imposing figure.

"Kieran, he rules over the vampire sector like a god." Hiei sneered.

"We fight demons not vampires. Don't you have slayers that handle these mediocre tasks?" Koenma's eyes brightened in an almost frightening way.

"Funny you should mention that Hiei. The four of you will not be going about this mission by yourselves, I've kindly asked our resident vampire slayer to join you and she has accepted my offer."

"I am not working with some weak woman who would serve no better purpose than to slow us down. I can barely stand to work with this idiot." Hiei motioned to Kuwabara.

"Hey you wanna start something shorty!?" Hiei sneered at the human and turned away.

"That would be a supreme waste of time." Yusuke interrupted the two.

"Hey! Cut it out you two! Jeez you fight like a married couple." Kuwabara turned on the spirit detective.

"What'd you just say!?" Kurama interrupted the argument, not wanting to witness another one of their senseless brawls.

"Who is she? This vampire slayer, what is her name?" He of course knew all about her but it had effectively diverted the boy's attention. Koenma pulled a picture of Kaname up on the screen in place of Kieran.

"Her name is Kaname Hitokiri, it says here that she goes to Meiou High. Isn't that the school you go to Kurama?" Kurama nodded, ignoring the burning stare he was receiving from the apparition behind him.

"Yes. I know Kaname, in fact I was just at her home a few minuets ago." Yusuke stopped glaring at Kuwabara and turned his attention to the fox.

"So you know this chick? Can she fight?" Kurama was slightly taken aback by the question but answered it promptly.

"Well I should suspect so, she's been training for about three years now." Yusuke nodded approvingly.

"Good, hate to say it but I agree with Hiei. I don't want some wimpy girl tying us down." Kurama smirked as he thought of what Kaname would do to Yusuke if she ever heard him call her wimpy.

"Well if she's anything like her brother that shouldn't be an issue." Yusuke looked over at the fox quizzically. He looked over at Kuwabara and a snicker crossed both boys' faces.

"Is that how you know her? Her brother?" He looked at them both suspiciously.

"You could say we are prior acquaintances." Yusuke put on an obviously fake guise of innocence.

"And what kind of acquaintances would you be?" Kurama glared at him, he understood now. Yusuke and Kuwabara had been trying for quite some time now to come up with some kind of evidence that Kurama was gay, of course they never bothered to just ask him and he wouldn't answer them until they did.

"Her brother, Yuki Hitokiri, is actually my old friend Kuronue; A former associate of mine, so to speak, back in my demon days." Yusuke's eyes narrowed as he recalled the name.

"Kuronue? But didn't you say he was dead?" Kurama nodded.

"Until today, I thought he was." Yusuke glanced at the fox apprehensively.

"How do you know it's really him I mean, it could be some kind of trick like that demon god pulled before." Kurama shook his head with utter certainty.

"It's not, trust me, it's him." Yusuke shrugged and settled back in his chair.

"Alright but expect an I told you so when he turns out to be some memory forming shape shifty thing and stabs you right in the back." Kurama smiled to himself and conceded to the boy.

"If that happens, which I know it won't, you have full liberty to tell me what ever you wish." Yusuke nodded superiorly and stuck his nose in the air, glancing at Kurama out of the corner of his eye as If expecting it to be some kind of trick.

"Well ok then. I will." Koenma cleared his throat pre-eminently.

"Well if you know her I can expect you to inform her of the situation. I tried calling her in but Botan hasn't reported back in yet." As he said this the doors of Koenma's office flew open and a dripping wet Botan came rushing in, Kuronue in step behind her and carrying a small bundle in his arms. It was Kaname. Kurama rushed to Kuronue's side, placing a hand on Kaname's cheek. He snatched it back quickly as if burned. She was ice cold. Koenma jumped up from behind his desk.

"Botan what happened?" The girl was visibly shaken and she stuttered out her answer.

"I'm not sure sir, I arrived to pick up Kaname as you asked and saw Kuronue and the human girl Ayumi piling blankets on top of her. She has severe hypothermia. If we don't get her body temperature raised soon she will die." Botan was frantic to save the girls life, Koenma nodded anxiously.

"Take her to my room, Hiei, you go with her." The demon glared at the god looking slightly shocked and angry at the same time.

"What." Koenma turned on him with a deadpan look of seriousness that clearly conveyed his age.

"You're a fire demon, you can lend her some of your energy and help to raise her temperature. Please do this, there isn't much time." Hiei followed the group into Koenma's bedchambers, grumbling about stupid humans and their stupid illnesses. He wasn't entirely thrilled to be lending any of his energy to some stupid girl either. It was her own damn fault for running out in the rain.

He pushed past the others roughly and settled himself on the bed, removing his cloak. He had to fight back a flinch as Kuronue placed Kaname on his lap; she was like a living ice cube. Kaname instantly curled around him and he could already feel her sucking up the warmth from his body. If she went about it this way she would kill them both. He removed her arms from around his waist and Kaname whined at the loss of contact. He clasped both of her hands tightly in one hand, his other going behind her and resting on the small of her back. He concentrated his energy and a purple aura surrounded the two. He glared at the others and they all quietly left the room, Kuronue giving one last glance before closing the door behind him.

"Do you think it wise to leave them alone together?" Kurama nodded and looked over at Kuronue somberly.

"If you want your sister to survive, it's best to leave them be." Koenma snorted and began to laugh.

"Sister huh? So that's what you have been letting her believe all this time. That you were her older brother." Kuronue glanced over at the demi-god and frowned.

"What are you talking about Koenma?" Yusuke asked. Kurama sighed heavily.

"Kuronue tracked me down to human world after he heard of my death and had a gypsy charm put on him to conceal his true identity while he searched for me. The family he came to was Kaname's. He became her older brother." Koenma shook his head, glancing firmly at Kuronue.

"Is that what you told him? Why don't you tell the real story Kuronue? Tell them who Kaname really is to you." Kuronue steeled his gaze, his face becoming impassive.

"She' my little sister." Koenma called him on it and squared his shoulders.

"No, tell them who her father is." Kuronue didn't even bat an eye.

"Hatori Hitokiri." Koenma snapped.

"Her real father!" Kuronue sighed and his stature collapsed, he sagged into a chair and let out another heavy sigh.

"I found Amane Sohma wandering about the streets of Tokyo the first night I came to human world. She was distraught, something about a death. I don't really remember, it wasn't important to me. I asked her what the matter was and she collapsed on me, crying her beautiful eyes out. I had never seen a creature so delicate. I found it extremely alluring. I could understand her grief at losing someone dear to her as I had just lost a dear friend of mine as well." Kuronue glanced over at Kurama who turned his gaze away.

"We comforted each other, if you could call it that. She became pregnant. Now you should understand. Human bodies are not made to sustain a demon fetus. They absorb an extreme amount of energy and eventually end up consuming the woman's entire store of life energy in a matter of months. I had not even expected her to last the first month in her weakened state." A small smile graced his lips.

"But unbeknownst to me Amane was no ordinary human. She was the slayer. Their different you see, not made like the rest of the weakling stock of humans. They're stronger, more powerful. She carried to term and bore me the beautiful girl lying just beyond that door. I'll never forget the look in her eyes when she held her daughter for the first time… The last time." Kurama was slightly confused by his last statement.

"Human women, slayer or no, should not be able to emit enough energy to complete the birth, you said she died in child birth." A look of pure and utter anguish fell across the bats face as he recalled that terrible day.

"She survived the birth, but she hemorrhaged, and I had to watch helplessly as the woman I loved bled to death on the operating table right in front of me, and I couldn't do a thing to stop it. I watched the life drain from her eyes, those beautiful eyes. Watched as she kissed our baby one last time. That was the most horrifying experience of my life." The entire room was still; they were all staring at Kuronue sympathetically. Botan was crying silently, even Yusuke had a small tear in his eye. Kuronue glared daggers at Koenma.

"There I told them. Are you happy now? Is that what you wanted? I think I've been sufficiently humiliated for the night and I would like to get some sleep if that's alright with you." Koenma nodded solemnly and Kuronue stood to walk out the door. Kurama grabbed his arm as he walked past.

"We'll keep you posted on Kaname's condition." Kuronue nodded and left the room, casting one last glance at the doors concealing the fire demon and his daughter.

Kaname's eyelashes fluttered and she began to regain consciousness. She was unbelievably warm and extremely comfortable and she smiled contentedly. Suddenly she realized she was being held tightly in someone's embrace and tensed. The last thing she had remembered was being lifted into her brother's arms, how had she ended up here? Where was here?

Her eyes wandered up to the face of the person holding her and she had to fight back a gasp. It was him! The demon from her house. His striking crimson eyes where tightly closed and a look of extreme concentration was etched across his features. She stared in awe at the glowing red eye in the middle of his forehead, she hadn't noticed that before.

Her eyes traveled down to where he held her hands, the place the remarkable warmth was coming from. She felt wave of heat hit her and her lids began to droop, her conscious thought clouding over and making her feel deliciously light headed. She involuntarily snuggled closer to the apparition, rubbing her cheek against his bear chest. Her eyes shot open in the realization that he wasn't wearing a shirt. She looked down at herself and noticed she wasn't much better off.

It looked as if her clothes had been changed, probably Ayumi. The girl had probably changed her out of her wet clothes and into the ones she was wearing now, if they could be called that. She was wearing the pajama set that Ayumi's mother had made her for her fifteenth birthday. She had hidden it under her bed never to be touched again. Ayumi had probably figured that this would be the only time that she would ever get to see her wear it. It consisted of two pieces, the top being a lacy pink camisole with built in support and two black ribbons lining a corset pattern beneath her breasts. The bottoms were very snug pink lacy boy shorts with the same black lacing down the sides on her hips.

As soon as Kaname had taken it out of the box she had thrown it right back in, a bright red blush across her cheeks. Ayumi had made her try it on, saying it would look sexy at which Kaname spit back that she didn't need to look sexy but Ayumi would not take no for an answer. Kaname had eventually given in but that was the last time she had even looked at the stupid lingerie. And now she was wearing it again, wrapped up in and incredibly attractive demons arms and- wait a minuet, where had that come from? Attractive demon!? Had she just thought that!?

She looked back down at the hands around hers and felt another wave of heat roll through her body and her eyes lolled back in her head, her breathing becoming labored and heavy. She forced her eyes open and looked up at the demons face from behind hooded eyes. The look of concentration had been replaced by a look of utter euphoria. His alluring eyes opened slowly and he turned his smoldering gaze to hers, holding her eyes in a concrete embrace.

His stare burned like fire through her veins, igniting areas of her body she didn't even know existed. She watched helplessly from the inside as her hand left his and traveled up to his face, her finger running a burning trail down his jaw line. She hooked her finger under his chin and slowly brought his mouth down on hers. Their lips met in seething fervor, running fire through their bodies. Their tongues battled ardently for dominance. Hiei eventually gained the upper hand and pinned her tongue to the roof of her mouth. He plunged in deeper, exploring the deepest recesses of her tantalizing mouth, driving to the very edge of his control and falling over in a daze.

His eyes snapped open and he wrenched his mouth from hers. He looked down at the female beneath him. Hear hair was splayed out on the pillow like an evanescent waterfall, almost disappearing in the deep midnight blue of the bed coverings. Her eyes were half open, looking up at him with arrested passion, her lips, swollen and bruised from the kiss that should never have happened. Her arms where held above her head, entangled in her long midnight tresses. He trailed his gaze down her body, taking in every inch of her beautiful form before returning to her stunning steel blue eyes. She was a goddess.

But what had happened? What on earth had possessed him to lose control like that and kiss her. Not that he hadn't like it; that was the problem. He had liked it entirely too much. He had given in to his body's demands and seized this young girls virgin lips, he could tell she had never been kissed before, not really. She was by no means inexperienced but what those stupid humans called kissing was nothing compared to the depth and passion of a kiss given by a demon lover. He had given her her first real kiss and he could tell by the look in her eyes that she had liked it a little more than she had expected too. So what had happened? Where was this heat coming from?

His gaze wandered down to where their hips met. He was settled nicely between her thighs and he could feel the intense heat emanating from her core. His eyes returned to hers, a suspicion in the pit of his stomach. He rolled his hips against hers experimentally and was rewarded with a small gasp from her cherry lips. It took every ounce of his self-control to keep himself from dropping all of his inhibitions and fucking the girl right into the mattress. He nearly lost it when the smell of her evident arousal drifted up to his sensitive nose. She smelled of sugar and spice, the perfect combination of innocence and lust.

He growled in frustration and clenched his hands around the sheets, tearing small gashes in the soft material. He almost whined when she rotated her hips against his, his breathing becoming uneven as he fought for control over his traitorous body. His cause was lost however when she reached up and wrapped her lips around the pulse in his neck. In a final attempt to save his sanity he desperately called to Kurama in the other room. He reached up and grabbed her hair, jerking her head back and crashing his lips against hers, his hands wandering burning trails down her body. His fingers curled around her hips, gripping them in an iron grasp and pulling them to him.

She moaned into his mouth, clutching at his back as a wave of pleasure racked her body. She had never felt anything like this before. In the back of her mind she knew it was wrong, but right now she really didn't care. Her hands began exploring his body, wandering down to his belts, fully planning on getting this offending piece of cloth out of the way. No sooner had her hands reached the ties than she was suddenly alone on the bed. She opened her eyes to see Kurama holding back a very pissed off looking Hiei.

"Hiei," He attempted to get the smaller demon's attention, but all he got was a low growl. So he brought his hand back and gave him a small, hard slap in the face. Hiei flinched, then looked at him, eyes focusing.

"Can you hear me?" He said calmly.

"Yes," came the whispered reply. Kurama sighed in relief.

"Good," He had been sitting outside the door when he heard Hiei's distress call. It had caught him extremely off guard. He never in his life thought he would ever hear the demon call for anyone's assistance. He hadn't sensed any other demons in the room besides Hiei and Kaname and even if there had been an attack Hiei would have surely been able to handle them himself. The next thing to cross his mind was Kaname, had something happened to her? He had jumped up from his seat after recovering from his momentary shock and flung open the door. He was completely unprepared for the sight before him.

He stood there for a few seconds, taking in the sight and processing it. He quickly called his Rose Whip and wrapped it around Hiei's neck, jerking the smaller demon off of the young girl. As soon as he had opened the door he had smelled the intoxicating scent of a female demon in heat. He supposed that would account for Hiei's loss of control. If he had been in such close proximity when her cycle had started then it would make sense that this would happen. No one had that kind of resolve.

He released his grip on Hiei and the apparition quickly and quietly disappeared. Kurama sighed heavily, involuntarily taking in more of Kaname's intoxicating scent. He shook his head to clear it and glanced up into the terrified eyes of the young slayer. She was huddled in the corner of the bed, so obviously shaken. Kurama stood and took a step toward her but stopped when he took in a breath. It was her first heat and damn was it strong. No wonder Hiei had lost control. Kurama staggered back against the wall, calling for Botan.

The ferry girl came running into the room, taking in Kaname huddled on the bed and Kurama's prone form clutching onto the wall. Botan rushed to Kurama's side, catching him as he collapsed. He needed to get out of this room.

"Botan, help Kaname." Botan struggled to get the fox to his feet and wrapped an arm around his waist, the other holding onto his arm over her shoulders.

"Let's get you out of here first." She helped him out of the room and into a chair.

"What happened in there?" She asked, Kurama shook his head, already it was clearing.

"Kaname must have gone into heat when Hiei connected with her. I can't believe I didn't see this coming." Kurama clenched his fists. She was at the right age, she was vulnerable. He should never have put her in that position. Kuronue was going to kill him. He could already tell that Hiei and Kuronue did not get along at all. The two had completely different views. But Kaname and Hiei had bonded and there was no stopping the inevitable. Kuronue was just going to have to come to accept the fact that Hiei was eventually going to become his daughters mate, like it or not, and there was nothing he could do about it. Of course he wasn't going to be the one to tell him that.

"It isn't your fault, there's no way you could have known. What should we do?" Kurama shook his head.

"There's nothing we can do. This is up to the two of them." Botan nodded and sighed heavily.

"Oh I'd say this definitely complicates things."

Kurama found Hiei standing outside, back in his cloak, he must have grabbed it on his way out. He was staring at the moon. With much persuading by Koenma, Genkai had allowed Kaname to be kept at her temple to be watched by the old psychic and Yukina, Botan had also offered to stay and help. It was better to keep her isolated and away from the male influence. They had moved her immediately so as not to alert anyone else to her condition. Kurama had notified Kuronue immediately and it was safe to say he was less than thrilled.

"Thank you. It's the only time you will ever hear it from me so take it for what it's worth. This is the closest I can get without…" Hiei trailed off, his gaze never wavering. Kurama looked over at his stoic friend. He felt a little sorry for him, the girl was only fifteen, and it was much too early for her to be tied down by a bond.

"I understand. What will happen now?" Hiei stood prone against the icy wind rippling across the plane. He seemed to all the world to be just a statue but Kurama could see the raging emotions behind the apparition's eyes.

"What's the matter Hiei? She's not a human, you know that. Not entirely. And she's a very powerful and formidable warrior, her ancestry proves that. What is wrong with this union?" Hiei blinked, a shadow of an emotion crossing his face. Could it be, sorrow?

"But she is. Half of her is tied to this world, it is the only world she has ever known. I saw her mind. She's pure of heart, untainted. I can't touch that light. My entire life has been spent destroying things and when something so pure and so delicate comes to me, I don't know what to do." Kurama's eyes widened in realization.

"Like Yukina. That is why you won't tell her you're her twin. You feel it would taint her?" Hiei's head dropped and he glared over his shoulder at the fox.

"My heart holds a terrible darkness few have ever seen. I will not let either one of them become a part of that darkness." Kurama glared at the smaller demon slightly irritated.

"You told me once, that there is no one who does not have scars on his heart, that if there were someone like that, he would be a shallow soul. It's true, but those scars will never heal if you hold them inside. You need to let someone in, let someone help you find your way through that darkness." Hiei shook his head solemnly.

"No, she deserves more. She deserves something outside of demons and darkness. She should be with someone who can take her into the light. Something more than this freak show." Kurama had heard just about enough.

"Don't you think you should let her decide?" Hiei looked over at the fox. Kurama was shocked to see tears in his eyes. The look of desolation there was almost unbearable. He looked so lost.

"Hiei I-" The apparition was gone before he could say another word. He stared after the flying shadow. "I'm sorry…"

Botan looked in on Kaname, she was curled up and turned away from the door. Botan stepped inside and closed the door softly behind her.

"Kaname? Kaname are you awake?" The girl's form remained still except for her steady breathing. Botan sat down next to the girl and placed a hand on her arm, she felt the girl flinch at the contact. A small voice drifted up from the bundle of blankets.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take Botan." The ferry girl looked down at the slayer sympathetically.

"I can't imagine what it must be like having this happen to you all at once. It must be horrible." Kaname sat up and hugged herself around her knees, resting her chin on top.

"I think horrible is still coming. Right now, I think I'm still getting over the shock. I can't do this." Kaname's face contorted in pain and her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. Botan reached over and gathered the girl in her arms.

"Oh Kaname." She buried her face in Botan's robes and let all of her emotions out, soaking the girl's robes with her tears.

"I can't breath Botan, I feel like I can't breath." She sobbed violently, crying heavily into Botan's chest. Botan rocked the girl, whispering soft words of reassurance into her hair. A lone figure looked in on the heart wrenching exchange with sorrow filled eyes. Kurama watched as Kaname cried herself to sleep in Botan's arms. He turned when he heard a figure walking up behind him. Kuronue walked up and looked in on his daughter and the ferry girl.

"It breaks my heart seeing her like this. She never did anything to deserve this." Kurama dropped his head, a sad smile crossing his lips.

"They never do. You spend your whole life protecting someone from the unknown and you end up being the one that hurts them in the end. It's the circle of love and hate. And circles continue on forever." Kuronue let out a soft chuckle.

"And I thought I was the one that was cryptic." They shared a smile. Kuronue turned back to the room.

"It's even worse knowing there's nothing I can do to ease her pain. I haven't felt so helpless since Amane died." Kurama placed a comforting hand on the bats shoulder.

"It'll all work itself out, it always does." Kurama restated Kuronue's previous phrase before turning and leaving the demon to his thoughts.

Lucie


	4. The Origin of Rin

Chapter Four

The Origin Of Rin

Kaname's eyes struggled to open; fighting against the dried tears caked to her eyelashes. She turned onto her back and raised her hands to rub the sleep out of her eyes. The sun was shining in through the window above her head and she had to squint as the sunlight glared into her sensitive eyes.

She sat up and looked around the room, the previous night crashing to the forefront of her mind. She dropped her head into her hands, staring into her lap in disbelief. It had been the strangest day of her life, she hadn't cried like that in years. She mentally kicked herself for letting everyone see her so weak.

She heard the door slide open and turned her eyes to look at the intruder. It was a small girl about Kaname's height; she had soft blue hair and very familiar garnet eyes. She smiled when she saw Kaname and ran in to give Kaname a big hug.

"I've missed you, Kaname!" Kaname was caught off guard but quickly recovered and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Yukina? What are you doing here?" Yukina pulled away from her and sat in a kneeling position on the mat next to her.

"I'm staying here now. Genkai is very kind and is helping me to develop my healing abilities." Kaname smiled excitedly.

"That's great Yukina! I told you everything would work out. Man I haven't seen you in ages! How have you been? Did you find your brother yet?" Yukina's look turned downcast and she let out a heavy sigh.

"Not yet, I haven't given up though, he's out there somewhere. I just have to keep looking. I have to be strong for both of us." Kaname smiled sympathetically and placed a comforting hand on the girls shoulder. Yukina shook her head and smiled warmly at Kaname.

"But enough about that, how are you doing. I heard you had a rough night." Kaname's smile faded slightly and she averted her eyes.

"Right as rain, whatever that means. I'll be ok, now that I have my good friend Yukina here to keep me company, nothing could ever go wrong." Yukina's eyes widened in panic.

"Oh don't say that! Whenever someone says that something always seems to go wrong." Kaname giggled at the girls antics, but she did have a point.

"I'm sorry, I'll keep that in mind." Yukina nodded and the girls shared a smile.

"I was just coming to see if you were awake, breakfast is ready. I don't know how good it will be though, Botan made it." Yukina stood and motioned for Kaname to follow her. Kaname stood and the blanket fell from around her, she looked down at herself and blushed, remembering what she had been wearing.

"Um, Yukina? You wouldn't happen to know where they stashed my clothes would ya?" Yukina turned and giggled at the sight of the small girl trying to cover herself.

"Their in the bag over there by the door. On second thought, you should probably bathe before you eat. There's a wonderful hot spring not too far from here; if you would like me to accompany you I would be more than happy to." Kaname looked at the girl like she had just fallen from heaven.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I need a hot bath right now."

Kaname walked into the small changing stall next to the hot spring and began stripping off her clothes. She hissed when she reached her shorts, her fingers brushing against her hips lightly. She looked down at the place where it hurt and found five small bruises on either side of her body. She crossed her arms in front of her and placed her thumbs on the bruises in front, wrapping her fingers around her hips and placing the tips of her fingers around the other four. She removed her arms from around herself and clenched her fists.

"That little imp, he must have a pretty strong grip, I don't bruise easily. Of course he does he's a demon, duh." Kaname sighed heavily, what had she gotten herself into?

"Kaname are you alright in there?" A voice sounded from over the wall, snapping Kaname out of her musings.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" She shouted back, removing the rest of her clothing and wrapping a towel around herself.

"Ok well I'm just going to head down, I'll meet you there." Kaname grabbed her other towel and opened the stall door.

"No need, I'm done, we'll walk together." Yukina smiled and took her hand, running down to the hot spring. Kaname almost stumbled into the girl when she stopped suddenly, staring at something in the spring. Kaname didn't see anything. She looked over at the girl curiously.

"What is it Yukina?" The girl snapped her gaze to Kaname's an almost unreadable expression in her eyes. She blinked and shook her head.

"Oh nothing, I just thought I saw something is all. Come on, the sooner we finish the sooner we can eat." Yukina grabbed her hand and pulled her down into the water. Kaname sighed as the warm water soaked her sore muscles. She was so utterly relaxed that she didn't notice the demon advancing behind her until it was upon them. She turned in time to catch a sword coming at her, she moved to her left quickly, but not fast enough as the sword nicked her left shoulder. She stumbled over to Yukina, standing between the demon and the Koorime. It advanced on the two girls.

"Kaname your hurt! Your in no condition to fight!" Yukina studied the injury, it wasn't very serious, but it would definitely hinder her ability to fight. Kaname shrugged it off.

"I'll be fine, I'm not going to let it hurt you!" She took up a defensive position. The demon smirked evilly and advanced toward the wounded slayer. A blur of black and blue flew out of the tree behind them and attacked the low class demon, slicing it into about twelve different pieces in the blink of an eye. Their demon attacker fell to pieces in front of them, reveling a small girl.

She was about Kaname's height with waist length deep cobalt blue hair that was pulled back in a half ponytail, held by a large black bow. Two long strands hung down just in front of her long pointed ears and she had her bangs hanging in her bright scarlet eyes like Kaname. She wore an all black knee length dress, the sleeves were long, covering her arms and the top rose high around her collar, a white scarf encasing her neck. The dress was rather fluffy and puffed out at the waist, creating a sort of umbrella look at the bottom. She had on tight black leggings and black ankle boots. In her hand she held a gleaming silver katana that looked rather familiar to Kaname. It was the same sword that was held against her throat not more than twelve hours ago.

"Who are you?" The girl looked over at the two girls huddled in the corner, her deep scarlet eyes unreadable.

"We'll just say, I'm a friend." Kaname glared at the girl, not really fully trusting her.

"What if I don't want a friend?" The girl smirked, amusement lacing through her piercing gaze.

"I didn't say I was yours." In the blink of an eye the girl had vanished. Kaname collapsed in the water, the loss of blood making her head dizzy. Yukina caught her and hoisted her up, helping her back to the temple. Genkai met them at the steps.

"What happened?" Kaname pushed off of Yukina to stand on her own feet.

"It's nothing," Yukina interrupted her.

"A demon attacked us. Kaname tried to fight him but she was injured. A strange girl saved us." Genkai's gaze turned thoughtful at the mention of a strange girl.

"This girl wouldn't happen to be dressed in all black, have long blue hair, bright red eye's, carries a silver katana?" Yukina and Kaname both looked at the psychic flabbergasted.

"How did you know?" Genkai glanced over the girls' shoulders.

"She's standing right behind you." They turned to see the girl from the hot spring smirking amusingly at Genkai.

"Hello Grandmother." They turned to see Genkai nod in the girls' direction.

"Rin."

"Grandmother! This girl is related to you Genkai?" Kaname asked surprised. She didn't know Genkai had any relatives.

"Not really no. I took her in when she was a babe and I raised her. She calls me grandmother. As you can clearly see she is in no way human." It was true; the girl was anything but human with her ethereal complexion and deep crimson eyes, not to mention the extremely long pointed ears.

"Let's continue this inside, Kaname is looking a little worse for wear." The girl named Rin suggested, taking Kaname's other side and helping her up the steps. The reached the temple and Yukina was able to heal the cut, wrapping it in a bandage just in case. They all sat down for tea, breakfast long forgotten which Botan was not too happy about, but she too was interested in the girls story and she listened intently as Genkai picked up from where she left off.

"Rin's parents were great warriors. Her father was a fire apparition and her mother was a vampire; a real vampire, not one of these human half-breeds that you slay on a regular basis. Real vampires don't need to feed off of humans to live; they can survive off of one victim a year. True vampires also don't suck blood; they suck life energy, draining a person of their very soul. Rin's mother was one of Kieran's most prized possessions and when she decided to leave his circle to be with Rin's father, Kieran was enraged. He spent the better part of two years hunting down Rin's mother and father and eventually he found them. Rin's father died protecting Rin and her mother. She was still pregnant at the time, and she fled here to my temple for shelter, she was very weak, and very distraught at having watched her mate be killed. She eventually gave up, lost the will to live and I delivered the baby. She died, shortly there after. I ended up being the one to raise the girl, she reminds me greatly of her father, but she has her mothers heart, for the better probably." They all looked over at Rin who was silently sipping her tea. She didn't look affected at all. She had grown up without a mother and a father. How terrible.

"That's so sad." Rin sat her tea down rather roughly on her plate.

"That's not the end of the story. None of what she has told you has happened yet, and I don't intend for it to. I am not of this time. A dear friend of my father has the ability to cut wormholes in space and she sent me back here twice. Once four years ago to inform Genkai of my visit now, and this time, so that I may change it. My world is one of utter darkness, the spirit detectives are dead and the world has fallen under the rule of that madman Kieran. He somehow managed to absorb the powers of each of the spirit detectives and use them to take over living and spirit worlds. I have come back here to make sure that does not happen." Kaname looked over at the girl curiously, absorbing the story.

"When? When is this supposed to happen?" Rin shook her head.

"It is impossible to say. The only one I know of for sure is my father, Hiei. He dies a little over two years from now. He was the last, so the other three must have died sometime before then. I believe the human died first, then the half-breed. The fox died shortly there after, also defending my mother. That all had to be within a month of each other. My mother and father were on the run for almost exactly two years so I would have to put the date for the first death sometime this month." Something wasn't sitting well with Kaname. She said her mother was Hiei's mate but how could that be when Hiei had bonded with her?

"Your mother? Do we know her? You said she's a vampire from Kieran's inner circle?"

"She wasn't at first. My father rejected her in the beginning and she fled to Kieran for comfort. When she realized her mistake it was to late, he had already turned her. She returned to the temple where Kieran found her and killed the fox. Her and my father realized their need for each other while they were on the run. I don't really know any details, the ones that would are dead." Kaname sat in stunned silence after hearing this. It was too similar, it had to be but at the same time it couldn't. she refused to believe that she could do those things.

"What was her name?" Kaname asked, not trusting herself to look in the girl's all too familiar eyes.

"You don't know her, not yet." Rin said as she rose, turning and walking towards the doors of the temple. Kaname's head popped up, the question falling from her lips before she could stop it.

"Will we meet her?" Rin stopped, turning her head slightly before striding out the open door.

"Not if I anything to say about it."

Hiei stood staring blankly out at the forest surrounding Genkai's temple, recollecting the events of the past two days. How he had managed to involve himself in this mess was completely beyond him. That stupid girl had let her emotions get the better of her and ran out in the rain, catching a rather violent cold. If it had been him in charge he would have let the idiot girl die, but no. He had to be the one to save her. And now he was bonded to her. Fate had a cruel way of exacting it's revenge. He felt rather than saw the person walk up beside him. He turned his gaze to the figure and his mouth quite nearly fell open. It was like looking into a mirror. If he was female he was sure it would be. Their eyes were the exact same, their hair color the same, their style their height everything.

"Who are you?" Hiei asked cautiously, looking the girl before him over once again. Trying for all the world to figure out why she looked like him. The girl smirked softly.

"I look like you Hiei because I am a part of you." Hiei's eyes wandered back up to the girls and narrowed in suspicion.

"What do you mean a part of me?" The girl squared her shoulders.

"My name is Rin, I come from 42 years in the future… and I am your daughter." Hiei's eyes widened.

"…How…" he breathed. Rin got a rather annoyed look on her face.

"Well it starts with a man and a woman." Hiei glared at her and crossed his arms.

"I meant how are you here." Rin sighed and took a seat on the rock to her left.

"Mukuro sent me here to change the future. And before you think it no, Mukuro is not my mother." Rin let out a exasperated sigh. Hiei scoffed.

"I know who your mother is brat. It's rather obvious from the look of you. Your attitude doesn't help to conceal your identity much either. She didn't raise you did she… and neither did I." Rin sighed.

"She managed not to see it." Hiei regarded the girl for a moment. He could tell by her demeanor and the way she said that last statement that it was probably the first time she had ever seen her mother, and the girl hadn't even recognized her. Which meant she had died before the girl could make any memories of her… in childbirth. He had a sinking suspicion that this was the first time she had met him as well.

"She not exactly in her right mind at the moment." Rin huffed.

"Like you are?" Hiei turned a glare to the girl, who shot back an identical glare. She was so obviously his child even though he hadn't raised her. She had picked up the best attributes of both parents. Excellent breeding.

"Why are you here?" Rin looked to the ground, finding her shoes suddenly very interesting. Hiei glared at her impatiently. Rin shifted under his scrutinizing gaze and sighed softly.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning." Hiei slumped down on the rock next o her.

"That is usually where story's start." Rin looked up at him annoyed.

"You were right, neither you nor Kaname raised me. In my time, the three worlds are united under one tyrannical leader, a madman by the name of Kieran. He killed Enki, the king of the demons, and took over as the leader of demon world. As you can imagine this didn't bode well with Koenma. He resurrected the Kakai barrier, reinforcing it to keep out any sort of vampire. Kieran wasn't stupid enough to make a push for living world with you four still around so he sent in a spy, his right hand man… My mother." She turned her gaze to his and was met with startled red eyes.

"What?" Rin held his gaze sternly.

"There was a reason I chose to come here at this time. I know what you've been contemplating Hiei. If you pursue those thoughts you condemn the world. Kaname was crushed when you rejected the bond. Close to death she stumbled into Kieran's waiting arms. He'd had his eye set on her for years, he wanted her to be his bride. And because of your actions, he finally got her. He rid her of any remnants of your bond and turned her, shaping her to do his bidding." She said in a disgusted tone.

"Kuwabara was the first to go. After he cut through the newly constructed Kakai barrier Kieran drained his life force while Kaname watched. It was her first step back toward the light. Yusuke was next. He and Yomi died together, fighting to free Demon world. Kaname fled, stricken, from Kieran's inner circle into the living world to the temple of Genkai where two day's later, Kurama was killed defending her from Kieran. You took her and fled to the caves your old demon gang used to haunt. The only ones who knew about it where you and Mukuro and nobody knew that she knew." Rin turned to look out at the forest.

"You dwelt there for a good two years before one of Kieran's spy's caught wind of Mukuro's secrets and he paid her a visit. She wasn't able to alert you, you were completely unprepared when they came. Kaname was already seven months pregnant with me and definitely showing. Kieran was outraged, he made her watch as he slowly ripped you limb from limb. He thrived off her screams every time he cut in to you. She was devastated, nearly miscarried but managed to escape. She made her way, despairingly to Genkai where I was delivered, and she died on the table of a broken heart." There was an edge of guilt laced in her voice underlying the pain of loss.

"I have been living with Mukuro in the deepest recesses of demon world for the last 35 years, before that I lived with Genkai. She taught me about my mother and Mukuro taught me about you. She raised me to be like you, apparently from all of the feedback I've been getting she did a pretty good job." Rin finished, not noticing the dark presence behind them.

"Yes it's uncanny." Rin turned to behold the specter of her living nightmare.

"…Kieran…" a small smirk formed on the mad mans face.

"Hello Rin." Her eyes widened.

"How do you know-" the smirk widened.

"Oh come now dear. Your not the only one with contacts." Kieran pulled a bloody and broken form up next to him.

"Mukuro!" Rin shouted as Kieran's hand shot through her heart and her lifeless form sank slowly to the ground before turning to ash.

"Oops! Did I do that? Silly me my hand must have slipped!" Rin glared murder at the vampire god, tears stinging her eyes.

"You Monster!" she shouted.

"I managed to hear quite a bit of your lovely story, too bad your coming here was in vain. You see Hiei doesn't have to reject the bond. I can do that for him. You have just provided me with all the information I will need to overthrow these worlds. As I have already done away with Enki, all that is left to do now is rid myself of the other pesky distractions. Starting with you." Rin violently unsheathed her sword.

"Bring it on! You stole my life Kieran! Paybacks a bitch!" she shouted, launching herself at him, a tear gem falling from her eyes as she did so, knowing her death was close at hand. Hiei's hand rose deftly and caught the flying midnight gem, staring blankly as Kieran's clawed hand reached out from Rin's chest holding her heart. Her body turned to ash and twirled past him out over the forest.

"What a waste. What? You're not going to try and fight me?" Hiei stared down at the two gems in his hand.

"You just killed my daughter and you are trying to steal my mate." He looked up at Kieran. "No, I'm not going to try and fight you… I'm going to kill you." Kieran let out a maniacal laugh and placed his hands on his hips.

"Honorable sentiments but do you actually think you are any match for-" he was cut of sharply as Hiei shoved his sword right through Kieran's heart.

"Gotcha. You overblown windbag." Kieran backhanded the smaller Demon into a tree and reached up to pull the sword out of his chest. He examined it briefly as it turned to dust, blowing away in the stale wind.

"That was rude." Kieran stated calmly, turning to Hiei. "I could just kill you, that would surely sever the bond, however… I despise you. Feeling that you, the Forbidden Child of the Koorime, could ever possibly come close to touching the radiant light that is my Kaname. It's madness! You are a curse on this world. And you will live to see my views reflected in _her_ eyes."

Kieran's words had frozen the apparition in his place. It was exactly what he had thought of himself, deep down… those were his views. He was so stunned by hearing them out loud that he never noticed Kieran's hands reaching out and grasp either side of his head, one thumb on each temple. Not until the searing pain began to shoot through his head, tearing a scream from his throat. His hand dropped the lone tear gem he was holding as his fingers locked around Kieran's wrists. Burning white hot light burst behind his eyes and he felt as if his head was being split in two. Every memory from the past two days flashed before his eyes and disappeared. Hiei's screams escalated with every flash, wrenching from his very soul. And then everything went black.

Lucie


End file.
